There is an emerging field of technology for sensor-driven monitoring within an environment to drive various services and applications. As one example, recent technology developments have seen initial proposed systems directed towards enabling automatic checkout within a store by using computer vision, sometimes in combination with other forms of sensing. Many such implementations are limited in their wide spread use because of numerous factors including operational complexity and prohibitive system installation costs.
As one example, installing a multi-camera surveillance system in an environment such as a building can be a large project. The equipment involved can be expensive and often includes complex and expensive cameras. Similarly, the installation process or even the feasibility of installation is complicated when considering installation into an existing store with existing infrastructure (e.g., shelves, lights, venting, etc.).
Additionally, a high level of training is required for workers to install a highly customized system. Even with training, setting up a system can be a long process since installing, aiming, calibrating, and configuring each camera can be an involved process. Maintenance of the system is similarly expensive and complex. Furthermore, when in active use, the multi-camera surveillance systems can generate large amounts of data that can, ironically, limit their uses. Thus, there is a need in the multi-camera system field to create a new and useful system and method for ubiquitous video monitoring across an environment. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.